Chapter 121: 103: And downfall

Auratic

Making heads and tails out of the series of letters was indeed a troublesome work, but with help from Rosalia - who had stayed, against Alicia’s expectations - and two and a half day’s worth of effort some resolution could finally be put together. First was establishing a chronological order to the letters which was deceptively difficult due to not all of them bearing a date combined with the fact that the letters had been held up and came much later than they should have. Though most of them had at the minimum a four to five days of space in between them. Before unpacking all of the contents of letters, one thing had to be established firsthand, the contentious ownership of the forest of Velauhart. Though technically unchartered hitherto Alicia’s de facto control over the land, it was a more or less a contested territory between multiple parties, The Kingdom and the Empire included among the more powerful claimants due to their physical proximity. Though even nations that don’t even border the territory had a claim to it, most notably the Oracular order - claiming it a holy land fit only for pilgrimage. Even petty kingdoms and city states had something to say about their legitimacy to its ownership; simply put, it was pie and everyone wanted a piece of it. With many powers placing a practical bounty to however that could actually hold the land, promising both the land, wealth, fame, whatever they could desire, drawing in many young, bold or the desperate to their unmarked graves. However none truly succeeded in occupying the territory for long due to the extremely hostile and equally dangerous fauna. It is difficult to say whether or not Alicia settled the land  since she technically is part of the hostile fauna. Yet, this is where the lernean hydra of convolutions start.

Since Alicia is native to Forest, - by this world’s standards - and it being claimed by the Kingdom, through technicality she can be regarded as a citizen of Pyrinia. This unshakable, indisputable fact of her nativity becomes the linchpin that holds everything that comes after together. This minor but significant detail allows the monarch of Pyrinia, King Diederik to pull off some creative interpretations of the law. First of the letters was basically acknowledgement of her success in establishing a community along with compensations such as making her a freeholder with land. While what was written was significant it was that which went unwritten that was important. The letter was a recognition of her being a citizen of the Kingdom by the very King himself and set a crucial precedent both of which were important requirements for the next set of actions. Next up was her safe recovery of a high standing - Margrave - member of the nobility - Rosalia - with close ties to the Royalty itself. The position of Margrave was equivalent to a Marquis, but with a small difference. The adage of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer ringed true in most courts. The king or any monarch in general only assigned the most distant territories, - ones that are most vulnerable - away from their eyes to their most trusted and loyal individuals. Be it direct through direct ownership or giving it to family and close allies and keeping uncertain actors and potential enemies under close scrutiny of the Royal court. While at surface level it might seem as though they are being banished to some backwater county, for those who could read in between the lines, it was the greatest show of faith. And Alicia having found and rescued a member - inadvertently - of a house held that high by the King earned her another reward. This time they found it fit to raise her to the rank of a Baroness, a process made simple and straightforward since she at this point had already become a freeholder.

Then came the conflict with the Empire, with the aftermath of the Imperial army being successfully driven back, revealing the corruption within the Kingdom. First on the chopping block were the noble houses who failed to hold up their duties and let the Empire’s army practically waltz in with minimal effort, they were stripped of their titles and pretty much all else. They and all who associated with them kept their heads on their shoulders, though their political careers were put to an end. Difficult life was ahead of them, but there was life. They had believed that the Imperial army would be undoubtedly successful in seizing Viveria, perhaps that would have been true if not for Alicia’s involvement. In order to prevent their escape after the end of the battle over Viveria, the Kingdom itself was put into a strict lockdown and information quarantine. She had thought the kingdom went back to business as usual far too quickly, though had questions about why the Merchants from Albertini had been held up for so long. And here was the answer, this would also explain why she had suddenly become a nobility within the Kingdom almost out of nowhere, they had to put everything on hold until they were done with the “housecleaning.” For rest that colluded with the Empire itself in a high treason, it was off with their heads, centuries long dynasties ended. Alicia this time credited with providing immediate assistance to Viveria through various acts and personally joining the battle, and somehow being credited with exposing the treason, again received a reward this time skipping a title and making her a Countess.

Her becoming Countess this quickly would normally be unprecedented but two things played a huge factor here. From the higher echelon of society, only those that would object to the King’s action of ennobling her were the Aristocratic faction. Royalist faction, while raising an eyebrow, wouldn’t need much persuasion, especially when the king himself was making these acts. The Centralists’ faction were so small that they didn’t really have the influence to say anything, whether they liked it or not. The non aligned part of the nobility were already the bottom rungs of the aristocratic ladder that they didn’t even care about. It didn’t help that most of the nobles that were being executed for high treason had some ties with the Aristocratic faction, which was enough of an excuse for the King to also purge some political enemies. Though the Royalty wasn’t making any more moves, anyone with some insight into the whole ordeal could tell that the King of Pyrinia held the whole aristocratic faction by their veins. Besides, elites of the Aristocratic faction that were in the game long enough knew that when the axe started swinging, they needed to keep their heads low. The second reason was the recent… purge.

Stripping a large portion of nobles of their titles and executing the rest left a rather sizable gap of nobles to be filled. Numerous heads of houses were promoted to make up for that gap and many nobles that felt ‘stuck’ finally had a chance to move up in this round of elevations. It was in their best intention to stay on the King’s good side, not questioning why someone that was practically unheard of before being ennobled was part of it. And so while not targeting her directly, Alicia was nonetheless swept up in it anyway to her current position of being a Countess in Pyrinia. Right in the middle of the Aristocratic ladder and suspiciously coincidentally the highest rank someone can achieve without being directly related to the Royalty. Interestingly, the very last letter was releasing her of her noble obligations as though one would free a vassal while allowing her to retain her land and title in the kingdom in the form of a regalia and pledging to uphold the sovereignty of her land.

Now while all of these were surface level discernment of the contents of the letter but the real crux was figuring out the intention behind these actions. First of all, why give Alicia this much recompense and then free her of duties. It was simply to establish a more cordial relationship but most importantly do it without tying her down or making it seem like they are trying to control her, this was as much as the King could do, and he was bending every law available under him so much that the laws were making a contortionist show. Second and perhaps their primary goal, was to be the first to make a move to win her over. Alicia was native to the Forest, while this meant that she could be regarded as a Kingdom’s citizen due to their claims, the same could be said for the Empire or the Oracular order. And that she had two duchies worth of territory in Velauhart under her. She was a wildcard, being able to be swayed to any side with reasonable legitimacy. While that was fine for the most cases, it would be absolutely disastrous if potential enemies of the Kingdom made a move first and succeeded. And lastly, to announce her presence to the world at large itself. Likely due to caution or even fear. All of the letters had been not only sent to various nobility of the Kingdom but also to its close allies and vassals. Which meant that she was under the spotlight. If she made any… interesting moves, the world itself would be listening in. A precaution perhaps, for the Kingdom to defend itself against her. For if she turned against them, all the world would know, and with all they have done for her so far, it would be reasonable to interpret it as betrayal. Though the Kingdom itself may not survive such an event, Alicia couldn’t trample Pyrinia without making multiple enemies. A strange, one-sided suicide pact that predicted an apocalyptic forecast far far in the future.

‘So I still don’t know if I’m noble or not… fantastic. Also… did they just give me the land that I already settled back to me?’

Fortunately for them Alicia was far more concerned with improving living qualities around her immediate surroundings.

‘What the hell was happening out there while I was figuring out how to make showers work with just hydrostatic pressure. No no no this isn’t right… I refuse to become a noble.’

And overcoming her own personal hell. While almost anyone would jump for joy for becoming part of the nobility, it was quite the opposite for Alicia. Whatever the case, she had been made into a governor with a land. Which meant, responsibilities, something that she dreaded.

‘Everyone dreams of becoming a president or a dictator and whatnot with all the power that comes with it but nobody actually wants to run a country!’

And with the wording of the letters, she was basically on her own.

After some time spent in denial of reality she started to prepare herself for true governing. She could avoid reality all she wanted in denial, but she could never avoid the consequences of avoiding reality. Alicia was already governing the Velauhart  before, now it was just official. And what better way to learn to be a mediaeval ruler than to learn from one. Or atleast the second best option of learning from the daughter of said ruler. While she was at a loss over how best to ‘delegate’ - or circumnavigate - her administrative work to others. Her Araneae familiars were the default choice, but considering their nature, it would be the last option. She was struggling because right now, it seemed like the only viable option. Bringing up well educated and capable officials for matters of statesmanship was the obvious choice, the obstacle being time, as she needed these competent individuals now. Hoping to stumble onto some catalytic inspiration, Alicia was quizzing Rosalia about various miscellaneous stories about laws and the associated punishments. Being too absorbed in her thoughts she had absent mindedly let the conversation steer off to a path unfrequented.

The young lady was quite uncomfortable disclosing further details, as she approached the topic from a factual angle.

The words finally clicked in her head now.

‘Damn, I would not want to be gay in the middle ages… Wait a minute…’

‘What so men get executed by swallowing a sword while having another shoved up their ass, and women get… public humiliation and beatings… I mean, depending on your kink, the flog might even be a turn on… Double standards much? This is how I know it’s reality, because it sucks, true fantasy wouldn’t have this…’

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‘Besides if you’re from a privileged family you can be a lesbian as you want to be and they’ll fork out the hush money, and give a slap on the wrist probably. Speaking of noble houses…’

‘That seems to be a trend…’

Despite the grim image Rosalia painted, within Alicia’s head the gears were spinning and she saw a glint of hope - for herself.

‘A well educated young girls that already has a background in governance that basically no-one wants in a legal context, yet largely available illegally due to recent political purges…?’

Thanks in part to her recent rise in status came a not insignificant amount of monetary bonus.

Auratic

Alicia:

Alice:

Alternative Alicia(who looks a little concerned):

And yes if you've noticed I reused the DALL-E generations as a input. I tortured my gtx970 for this. Hopefully it was worth my time and the pain caused to my GPU.

Here's the Extras album, if you want it, there's like 2-3 NSFW generations from when I limit tested the A.I, so if you want to see them too let me know I'll arrange something.

Also is this a threat?

Is he gonna track down my IP and egg my house or something for being bad? Should I be concerned.

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